


Grunge

by orphan_account



Series: Welcome to Underfell [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Underfell, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, But There is Potential, Dark, Good Brother Papyrus, Hurt/Comfort, I think I was being accidentally misleading, Lack of Communication, Love is unrealistic btw, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Poor Sans, Sans Has Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Soulmates, Suicidal Thoughts, The ending is happyish, Underfell Grillby, Underfell Papyrus, Underfell Sans, Unrequited Love, a metric ton of issues actually, and grillby, fucking sans admit your undying love to grillby, healthy sibling relationship, self destructive tendencies, stop being such an asshole to your future husband, we all enjoy torturing him don't we?, you shant find incest here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-12 16:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12963900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "Sans grinned lazily as he listened to his brother started to chatter away about something while he lounged. He didn’t understand the rumors. He loved Papyrus and he would never hurt Papyrus, and Papyrus loved him and he’d never hurt him even though he was such a—His mind froze.Such a what?Such a disaster..."





	1. Into the Depression

**Author's Note:**

> Now, here's the thing, the "Soulmates" thing is kind of ambiguous because it's not explicit. It's more like feeling a phantom pull in your chest whenever you're around your soulmate, but sometimes it's so subtle you can't even tell if you made it up or if it's the real deal. Hell, with some monsters, they can't feel the pull at all. So yeah. Sans is a bit more sensitive, which is how he knows he and Grillbz are soulmates without a doubt, but Grillbz doesn't know.
> 
> I just felt the need to clear that up so I won't disappoint you folks. Enjoy the story. :P

_ It never hurt to indulge once in the while _ , he mused as he eyed the plate of food that emitted a softly glistening and golden hue. He felt his stomach roar impatiently the longer his gaze remained on that plate.  _ Never, never… Maybe Papyrus wouldn’t mind much. It's been awhile since the last time we laid a phalange on something that looks as good as that… _

A single crimson eye surveyed the dimly lit room. It was wide and crowded with monsters of various shapes and sizes all seated either at a booth or table. There were few who were bold enough to claim a chair at the bar, the stout skeleton one of them, but the hesitance and—one would dare to utter such a word— _ fear _ was understandable. Grillby wasn’t the one you should toy with, and with the establishment being his, everyone held a cautious footing around him. Everyone except that one skeleton who never failed to make his way down to the bar every night with that air of impertinence surrounding him.

Sans was an infamously despicable monster who was a true enigma. Nobody knew much about him except that his brother, Papyrus, was the head of the King’s Royal Guardsmen, and for that, he was practically untouchable. That never stopped those certain kinds of monsters with an ego bigger than the Underground itself to corner him some late nights and beat him until he could not move. On those nights, Papyrus would have to search for him, and on those nights, Sans usually wasn’t seen for an entire week after. Most of the frequenters at Grillby’s assumed that was because Sans had failed Papyrus in protecting himself, and rumors began to circulate about Sans and Papyrus’s abusive relationship with each other. Neither Sans or Papyrus knew of these rumors, for the terror that if they were to hear, the dust of some poor unfortunate soul would be flowing in the cold winds of Snowdin. So whenever one or both of the skeleton brothers made their appearance, the jaw of every monster would tighten and refuse to open until they left.

The only problem was that Sans already knew about them.

Aggravation made Sans’s perpetual grin fall into a nasty scowl as he recalled such hearsay. The red of his hollow socket glowed threateningly as he imagined dusting every monster in the room for spreading such notions, but he refrained. Papyrus would not like it, and Grillby would not appreciate his clientele being killed off.

__ _ Grillby… _

Sans willed himself not to falter as he watched the approaching purple fire. His plan of taking that aforementioned plate of food was disintegrating in his mind further and further every step the monster took nearer to him. Sans forced a sharp, lazy grin onto his face and leaned against the bar counter.

“What’s hot, Grillbster?” He greeted as casually as he managed, chuckling at his little joke.

“Hello, Sans.” The fire returned smoothly with a hint of disdain under lacing his words. He stopped just in front of Sans, his sleeves rolled up to the joints of his arms and the collar of his shirt unbuttoned and messy with his tie thrown over his shoulders. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at Sans, his jagged mouth sliding down into a frown. “It’s late. Shouldn’t you be headed out by now?”

Sans coughed into his fist and chuckled awkwardly. “I’m a fully matured monster, Grillby, I don’t have a curfew.” He replied.

“Of course.” Grillby didn’t bother to hide his hauteur this time when he spoke.

Sans watched as Grillby took out a maroon cloth and wiped down the counter, a red glow creeping onto his cheekbones and an odd feeling of melancholy pulsing inside his soul.

“Well, maybe I shouldn’t keep Papyrus waiting, so I’ll see myself out.” Sans quickly said and slid out of the bar stool with as much grace as a sack of potatoes. “See you around, Grillby!” He called as he made his escape.

He pretended not to notice that burning glare of suspicion from the bartender on his back as he left, and he pretended that his soul didn’t cry out in pain from having to leave its chosen mate even as a grunt left his throat. Instead he focused on the swift punch to his ribs and the kick to his skull, and then afterwards he focused on the soothing voice of Papyrus’s in his ears as sobs wracked his trembling body as his brother carried him home.

He focused on the numbness instead of the heartache and ignored his misery. Papyrus didn’t deserve this; he didn’t deserve to carry Sans’s burden, yet he did anyways. Sans couldn’t feel anymore guilty and wished those monsters had dusted him.

He went on anyways.


	2. Pull Me Up Before I Drown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, uh, I kind of let loose the waterworks. 0u0 I hope you like crying, 'cause....... 0u0
> 
> (Btw, thanks for all who left kudos, comments and made bookmarks. Youre all awesome!!! :U)

He hissed when the hot wet rag was pressed against a particularly nasty crack. A low hum resonated inside Papyrus’s ribcage as he continued to tend to his brother’s wounds, and Sans forced himself to relax, convincing himself that Papyrus wasn’t going to lay harm onto him. When he was done, Sans refused to look him in the eyes, already feeling his disapproval thrumming in his aura.

“Why do you always go back there?” Papyrus asked quietly, the growl that typically rumbled in his throat when he spoke was gone at that moment.

“...I don’t know.” Sans answered dishonestly. He paid no attention to the way Papyrus’s eyelights narrowed skeptically. He  _ knew  _ why he went back, but he was scared of how Papyrus might react if he told him. 

“Really?” Papyrus’s flat tone confirmed that he didn’t believe his brother. “I’ve noticed that the answer changes with the weeks, brother. I don’t understand why you just don’t tell me.”

Sans wanted to tell him, but when he opened his mouth, he hesitated.

Papyrus sighed. “Are you really that afraid of me?” He questioned.

Sans scoffed and rolled his eyes. “As if.” He sneered and leaned back on the couch. “You may be the head of the Royal Guard, but I’ll always be your older brother.”

“Age holds no superiority over strength.” Papyrus reminded him, amusement evident, as he stood from his place on the carpeted hardwood floor.

“Oh, yeah? I remember quite fondly of all those times where I sent I your skeleton flying during defense training.” Sans said jestfully and laughed.

Sans yelped when Papyrus’s gloved hand came down hard on his bandaged skull and petted him. He glared playfully when his brother began to laugh this time as he walked towards the kitchen, bucket in his grip and scarf fluttering behind him. Sans grinned lazily as he listened to his brother started to chatter away about something while he lounged. He didn’t understand the rumors. He loved Papyrus and he would never hurt Papyrus, and Papyrus loved him and he’d never hurt him even though he was such a—

His mind froze.

Such a what?

_ Such a disaster _ , that tiny voice in the back of his skull supplied.  _ A disaster? _ He wondered with a frown.  _ Yes, _ the voice replied,  _ you’re a mess. Haven’t you noticed? You can’t even protect yourself from a bunch of conceited juveniles. What kind of monster can’t defend themselves? Oh, I know… The kind that deserves to be  _ **_dusted._ **

Sans shot up, cold sweat dripping down his skull, as Papyrus walked back into the living room with bandages in his hands.

“Sans?” He called out to his brother, perplexed. 

Sans didn’t hear him.

_ Look at yourself, Sans. You need Papyrus to be able to stand on your own two feet, but Papyrus doesn’t need you. Actually, all you do for him is hold him down, most likely. You’re a burden.  _ **_Dead weight_ ** _. Nobody would miss you if you just up and disappeared. It’d probably be a welcome relief. I bet Papyrus only does the things he does for you because of how  _ **_pathetic_ ** _ you are.  _ **_Pitiful_ ** _.  _ The voice paused a moment before continuing more sweetly.  _ You know, you only have one HP. Think of how  _ **_easy_ ** _ it would be to just dust yourself. You’d be free of such  _ **_suffering_ ** _. Wouldn’t that be great, Sans?  _ **_No more pain, no more agony. You’d be at peace, finally…_ ** _ it would only take just a  _ **_good hit_ ** _ for you to be able to rest… _

“Sans? Sans!”

_You wouldn’t have to worry about Grillby anymore if you did. After all,_ ** _Grillby doesn’t even return your affections_** _. I mean, what_ ** _good_** **_monster_** _does? Love is unrealistic, Sans. How’d you even get it into that_ ** _thick skull of yours_** _that Grillby would ever love you, anyways?_ ** _You’re a disgrace of a monster_** _. You may be soulmates, but you’ll never be what Grillby would_ ** _want_** _._

“Sans! Calm down! Why are you crying? Sans!” Papyrus’s worried voice finally silenced that awful voice as he gently shook his brother out of his stupor.

“Huh-what? Papyrus…?” Sans choked out. Red streaks of liquid were running down from his eye sockets as he quivered. “I’m crying?”

“Yes! What’s wrong?” Papyrus asked sternly.

“I… don’t know.”  **_Another lie._ **

Papyrus growled in frustration. “Yes, you do know! Why won’t you just tell me, Sans? Why can’t you just trust me?! I’m your  _ brother! _ ” Papyrus’s voice broke on the last word. “You said you’d never lie again, but here we are! I don’t know why I let it go for so long when  _ I knew.” _

Sans’s soul dropped.  _ He knew? _

“Why, Sans? Why? Why do you lie? Why do you let yourself get beat up? Why do you keep everything to yourself?” Papyrus’s eye sockets began to water. “Why don’t you think about what’ll happen to me if you die?”

He couldn’t breathe.

“Don’t you know that I love you, Sans? I’m your brother… your  _ younger _ brother. I hated to see you get hurt before, and I still do. Don’t you know that I’m afraid when you don’t come home when I expect you to? Don’t you know that when I go out looking for you, I’m afraid I’ll only find your dust?”

Hecouldn’tbreathehecouldn’tbreathehecouldn’tbreathe—

“I love you, Sans. I care for you, Sans. And I’ll continue to say that because I know that I haven’t been saying it enough.” Papyrus let out a quiet hiccup. “I-I just want you to tell me what you don’t say. I don’t want you to get hurt. Don’t you understand?  _ I don’t want you to die!” _

He broke.

He told Papyrus everything.

Papyrus held onto him, and continued to hold on to him even after he was finished. They cried in each other’s arms, and Sans felt a sensation that he hadn’t felt in a long while as Papyrus repeated to him about how much he loved and appreciated him and how he was sorry for being so neglectful and that he wanted Sans to stay with him.

He felt hopeful—

“I love you, Papyrus.” He sobbed.

“I love you too, Sans.” His brother whimpered.

—and knew that things would start to get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, I felt like I was tearing up when I was writing this... :U


	3. Washed Ashore With You By My Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter didn't go as I wanted it to, but I still like it even though it could have been waaaay better.

It took a few months for that voice deep inside his skull to finally go away, and even then it showed from time to time—

_ Oh, Sans, you really think you can get rid of me? _

_ You little disgusting piece of- _

_ You’re hopeless! Hopeless, I say! _

_ Idiot, idiot, idiot… _

_ You deserved it. _

_ You deserved that. _

_ You deserve this. _

**_You are NOTHING WITHOUT ME!_ **

—but Papyrus was always there to help him—

_ “Shh, shh… it’s okay, Sans…” _

_ “I’m here, brother, and I’m never leaving.” _

_ “You have to stay positive, Sans!” _

_ “Are you alright, Sans?” _

_ “Why, I ought to dust that monster-!” _

_ “No one will ever hurt you again.” _

_ “I promise, Sans.” _

_ “I promise, brother.” _

_ “I’ll never let go of you.” _

**_“I love you so much…”_ **

—and help him he did.

Which is why he was standing in the entrance of Grillby’s, in fact, letting all of the freezing cold air into the bar. When Sans had told his brother of his being the soulmate of Grillby—which, in turn, thoroughly explained why he insisted on going to that grease trap almost every night—Papyrus was more than gleeful to pull out his tome called  _ “Dating 101: How to Get the Monster of Your Dreams!” _ and sat Sans down at the dinner room table, where they stayed for hours reading through and analyzing every bit of the book until Papyrus deemed him ready enough to ask out Grillby.

Though, Sans believed Papyrus was rushing into it, so also in those months Papyrus seized every single opportunity to get his brother and Grillby alone for some bonding time and even played wingman a few times when Sans’s anxiety acted up. Amazingly, it worked, and now Sans and Grillby could speak to each other without the former suffering a panic attack or the latter getting angry and throwing the former out of his bar. One could say that they were even good “friends” now.

“Okay, Sans, remember: you got this! Alright? I believe in your ability to capture the soul of that fiery-tempered bartender and make him fall head over heels in love with you!” Papyrus said and posed spectacularly, his cape flowing behind him majestically. “I believe in you, and I wish you the best of luck, brother!”

Sans grinned. “Thanks for the words of encouragement, Paps.” He replied honestly, his soul buzzing with admiration and love for his brother. “You’re the best, bro.”

“Nyeh, heh, heh! But of course! After all, I am the great and terrifying Papyrus, head of the Royal Guard!” Papyrus boomed. He swiftly swooped Sans into his arms and twirled him around. “And you’re my great and amazing brother, whom I love dearly!”

“Hahaha. I love you too, Papyrus...” Sans chuckled and accepted the grandeur embrace.

When Sans was put back down onto his feet, he noticed a few monsters standing a ways away and staring at them strangely.

Papyrus noticed this and narrowed his eye sockets. “What are you looking at?! Have you never seen a skeleton giving emotional support to his brother before? GET LOST!” He shouted furiously, and the loiterers quickly dispersed. He turned back to Sans with a wide grin. “Well, brother, you better get going before Grillby closes up! Good luck… again!”

“Thanks, Papyrus. I’ll see you later.” Sans smiled and waved before snapping his fingers and appearing in front of Grillby’s in a red flash and pushed open the door.

And that’s how he got there.

The place was completely devoid of life other than the purple fire elemental standing behind the bar, who looked up to see who entered. It surprised Sans to see no one else inside, but it wasn’t unpleasant. His cheeks became stained with red when Grillby waved him over and offered him a small, almost shy, smile.

“What’s hot, Grillbster?” He said and walked leisurely over to the bar. He clamored up and onto the bar stool that was taller than he was, getting comfortable and leaning against the counter.

“Hello, Sans.” Grillby returned, this time more pleasantly. “How are you?”

“I’m just nice and warm.” Sans answered. Right now, he probably looked stupidly in love.

Grillby chuckled in that crackling way of his. It scared Sans the first time he heard it since it was right after he began his quest of trying to weedle his way into Grillby’s soul without explicitly mentioning that they were soulmates in the first place and the fact that he had made Grillby pissed and had narrowly saved his metaphorical skin by cracking such a bad pun that it made him laugh. The point is that Grillby’s laugh scared Sans, but now Sans just finds it endearing.

“So, when were you gonna tell me?”

Sans’s train of thought crashed. “Tell you what?” He asked.

“That we were soulmates.” The fire replied softly.

“Uh… I thought… I didn’t think… you’d want… to be with me?” Sans stuttered out, bones audibly rattling.

“Well, I will admit that at first I would not, but you’ve proven that you’re… not at all what I expected you to be.” Grillby admitted, embarrassed.

“I’m not?” Sans said confusedly.

“No. You’re… how shall I say this? You’re- you’re nice. Very nice. Wonderful, in fact. Not at all like the other monsters that come in here.” Grillby paused and turned away, his face notably becoming a darker purple. “All of the monsters believe kindness is synonymous with weakness, but honestly? I… I’ve been questioning that mentality lately.”

“Maybe what the Underground needs  _ is  _ kindness.” Sans said. “After all, you can’t be strong all the time. I should know.”

“You make a great point, Sans.” Grillby smiled again. “Now I believe we’re veering off a topic I wish to discuss. Why didn’t you tell me we were soulmates?”

“Grillby, I’m sure you know why—”

“I know… I meant ‘why didn’t you tell me after we’ve gotten close?’”

Sans looked away, cheekbones burning. “I wasn’t sure if, you know, you were interested, so I didn’t bother…” He mumbled.

“But doesn’t it hurt you? I’ve read that when a monster is rejected by their soulmate, it harms them. So all those times where you wanted to say something but didn’t, it hurt you?” The fire monster frowned. “Why?”

“Like I said: I wasn’t sure if you’d like me back.” Sans grunted.

“I don’t.”

Sans clenched his fist as a feeling of being stabbed emanated from his soul.

“However…” Grillby began. He had noticed Sans’s reaction to his words. “...feelings can change.”

Sans managed a shaky grin. “Yeah. They can.” He agreed halfheartedly.

The skeleton made a move to slide off the bar stool, but the fire elemental caught the sleeve of his jacket before he did so. Sans’s breath hitched as a chaste kiss was pressed to his cheekbone.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, but I promise that I’ll learn to love you eventually.” Grillby whispered gently as he pulled away slowly.

“O-Okay…” The other stammered, eye sockets wide, cheekbones ablaze, and a brand new feeling of delight beating in his ribcage.

 

When Sans arrived home later that night, he was immediately interrogated by his brother.

“How did it go?” Papyrus asked, skillfully hiding his enthusiasm.

The stout skeleton smiled joyously. “Not as I would have hoped... but we’re getting there. We’re getting there…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love! It may not be as popular as other stories, but still! I appreciate all of the love you gave to me. I might write a sequel in the future, I might not. I'll see where the future takes me. :) Until then, have a wonderful day!
> 
> (ALSO, IF YOU CATCH ANY MISTAKES, PLEASE BRING IT TO MY ATTENTION SO THAT I MAY CORRECT THEM. THANKS!)

**Author's Note:**

> *cough, cough* leave kudos *cough* and comments *cough* thank you!


End file.
